General Motors has always been good about prodding automotive enthusiasts with their naming practices. Pontiac was the worst offender in the 1960s, causing a mild uproar by naming an A-body coupe a GTO (or a LeMans). Their full-size hardtop was the Grand Prix, their sporting full-size hardtop the 2+2. Chevrolet joined in on the fun in 1984 with the Celebrity Eurosport, a car that was actually fairly competent for a front-drive American sedan. Of course, the name opened them up to a little ridicule because the car wasn’t even vaguely European, but that didn’t seem to affect sales. Speaking of sales, this 1985 Eurosport Sedan is posted on Facebook Marketplace in Akron, Ohio, with an asking price of $4,000. That’s a steal compared to 1985, and it has just 51,760 miles on it.
In retrospect, Chevy might have been better off giving the Eurosport an alphanumeric name like the Cavalier Z24 or the Citation X-11, simply because it would have sounded a little less like it was trying too hard. As it was, the Eurosport came standard with the same 2.5-liter four-cylinder as the rest of the Celebrity lineup, but this car has the optional top-of-the-line 2.8-liter V6 with fuel injection. Tied to either a three-speed or a four-speed automatic and offering 130 horsepower, Chevy said that the injected 2.8 could push the Eurosport to sixty in just ten seconds, not bad going in 1985.
This car looks fairly tidy underhood, even if it could use a trip to the coin-operated car wash for a date with the spray wand. In the changeable environment of the Great Lakes region, anything made of aluminum will rapidly develop a coating of corrosion, and indeed a lot of the bits and pieces in the engine compartment have suffered from that, but aside from the appearance, there are no harmful effects.
Motorweek road tested a first-year 1984 Eurosport sedan, and they came away liking the standard F41 suspension and firmer rack-and-pinion steering, although they complained of “bump steer” and mentioned that the power steering pump couldn’t keep up with hard turns. Their car had the carbureted 112-horsepower 2.8, which was still available in 1985, and their zero-to-sixty result of eleven seconds seems to verify Chevy’s performance claims for the 130-horsepower model. Overall fuel mileage was a decent 24 miles per gallon.
Whoever originally bought this Eurosport clearly wanted the full experience, because it has a blue bucket-seat interior with center console and a floor shift. Based on the shifter bezel, it appears that this car has the optional four-speed automatic with overdrive, and although the interior can plainly use a good detailing, it appears to be in good shape.
Motorweek surprisingly singled out the instrument panel for praise. While its oblong speedometer doesn’t exactly remind you of a 325i, it was less glitzy and distracting than the LCD gauge packages that were becoming so popular in the mid-1980s. At least the Eurosport had a voltmeter and a temp gauge, although oil pressure monitoring was handled with a warning light.
Being an Ohio car, you can’t be surprised that there is some rust around the edges, so anyone looking to relive the 1980s American sport sedan scene will want to inspect the car in person. Being that the car is white, it can be spot-repaired more easily than most colors, and the extent of the repairs will depend on how well-ventilated that door jamb really is.
Based on the exterior pictures, it could be a lot worse. Is it worth $4,000? It’s hard to say, because most Eurosports turned their final corner decades ago, but I hope someone buys it, cleans it up a little, and shows it off as a nostalgic reminder of when these surprisingly competent sedans were everywhere.
Related Reading
CC Outtake: Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport VR – Very Rare (by Paul N)
Cohort Capsule: 1985 Chevy Celebrity Eurosport Wagon – A Lesson In Popularity (by Perry Shoar)
Cohort Pic(k) of the Day: 1988 Chevrolet Celebrity Eurosport Coupe – Two Door Sedan, Actually (by Paul N)
What a beauty. THIS is the sort of car I like to see.
I’ve never found horizontal strip speedometers any harder to read than round ones. But car magazines of the time always complained about horizontal speedos. I think it’s just that imported cars didn’t use them, so they must not be as good.
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They once used them, the 1968-69 Datsun 510 used once horizontal speedos before using the rounded speedos when the 1970 model arrived. https://www.carpartsmanual.com/datsun/bluebird-1968-1973/electrical/instrument-meter/oct-68-to-sep-69
I don’t specifically recall any comments about that in my decades of having C&D and MotorTrend subscriptions since a teenager (late 1970s into the 1990s before the internet and they got online). But I would not be surprised. It sounds more like something I’d read in Car And Driver from Dave E. Davis Jr. or Csaba Csere would say.
Which I find interesting of an opinion because domestic car and truck makers had horizontal speedos and gauges in many models since the 1950s. Long before the imports started coming over. It wasn’t like a bar speedometer was new for the 1970s-1980s or anything.
One thing overlooked in this article is its Hollywood connection. It was owned by Thing from The Addams Family. He can be seen perched on top of the headrest reflected in the rear view mirror.
Gotta hand it to you for catching that.
The little bit of rust showing in the rear door dog legs is just the tip of the iceberg. Run away.
These were indeed very popular back in the day! I agree there is nothing “Euro” in it and the “sport” is just aesthetics (not even a tach!) , but I imagine most buyers accepted it as a sort of “suspension of disbelief” ; I would argue that the small price premium of the Eurosport was well worth it, as it improved looks over the base trim while remaining quite affordable.
I am not so sure about going heavy on options like this example however, unless you wanted FWD, because that brought you into LTD 5.0 territory
I like it. These were attractive and well packaged cars. Outward visibility was outstanding especially when compared to today’s cars. And it seemed that GM knew how to build great seats with comfort compared to the overly hard bucket seats of today.
This is the kind of car that I’d love to pick up and not worry if the engine was bad. Because I’d want to convert it to EV. Then I’d have the best of both worlds: A nice looking and comfy sedan with the solid EV under the hood.
1989 Eurosports were the last new MP patrol cars GSA (General Services Administration – supplier for most US government non-tactical vehicles) sent to the Presidio of San Francisco. GSA normally bought more basic models. An upscale trim level like the Eurosport was unusual for a GSA purchase. I suspect GM offered GSA a deal to close out their production.
By the time these cars were received, the Presidio was already going through the closure process. Kind of fitting the last Eurosports ended up at an Army post being closed and one that was to be my last duty station.
I drove one belonging to a friends parents. The motor mounts must have been broken because that car would shake you half to death. Absolutely terrible. I suggested that they get this fixed but I don’t think they ever did.
Using the name Eurosport was just one more reason for people to sneer at Chevrolet. Alphanumeric or some other word would have been better.
It’s especially strange that it wasn’t called Celebrity RS since it ran concurrently with the Cavalier RS which was also offered as a 4-door or wagon.
There was a 1996 Celebrity Eurosport RS concept car built. I have a better picture at home that I saved long ago. It ended up becoming the VR for 1987.
https://static.cargurus.com/images/site/2010/01/09/13/49/1986_chevrolet_celebrity-pic-924602353972786236-1600×1200.jpeg
They actually did make a Celebrity Eurosport RS for 1986, a concept vehicle. It ended up becoming the Celebrity Eurosport VR for 1987.
These were everywhere back in the day. They were quite a bit more reliable than the X-car it was based on (which isn’t saying much). What I recall about the Celebrity Eurosport was the loud exhaust. It always kind of struck me as cow mooing.
While these cars were better than the X-car, they really weren’t all that reliable, especially when compared to a Toyota of the era. By ten years, they were all gone.
The big news on the domestic auto scene for 1985 was most definitely not the X-body-with-the-bugs-worked-out A-body Celebrity; it was the ground-breaking, looks-like-an-Audi 5000 Ford Taurus.
OTOH, IDK how many of those 1st gen Tauruses are still running around. Likely not many with ~50k miles, that’s for sure.
My family had a repair shop when the first generation Taurus came out. As soon as the warranty was up, the cars started coming in with multiple failures. The Celebrity was a paragon of quality in comparison.
I think it’s partly a matter of attrition/depreciation. For many many years, as recent as the existence of this site in fact, A body Ciera and Centuries were nicknamed “cockroaches of the road” because no matter how decrepit they just won’t go away and kept running. Now a days they too have gone away mostly, but fundamentally there wasnt anything separating them from the Celebrity substantially, the big difference was demographics, Celebrity buyers were normal car buyers, same as Camcord buyers before the CRV/RAV takeover today, but Ciera/century were the “mature” ones bought by(plus they remained in production longer). It stands to reason the Celebrities got used up and worthless whether they were mechanically dead or not where the Buick/Olds equivalents after being, well, passed down enjoyed a longer life well outside their natural intended existence, and as long as the owners could bear them would keep going for as long as most ever dare to try.
That’s not a glowing defense of them but as carefree pieces of mobility you could do a lot worse than a FWD A body. Tauruses were a hell of a lot more stylish and game changing for their time but with the power of hindsight and not being someone who cares about the frivolity of trends, gun to my head, I’d take the Celebrity in the long run. And I’m a Ford guy. As for the Japanese cars I will not dispute their engineering prowess and quality over ALL these domestics, however rust got them as good (or worse) as any after 10 years around here.
I actually like the 2.8 exhaust note, it’s the most “V8” any V6 ever sounded.
My perspective is that the Eurosport branding was an intelligent decision by Chevrolet to pick a more realistic target than the broader International Series branding on the Cutlass.
I always really like that steering wheel, they had a great feel and did not get in the way of the dash.
That point of rust is likely the kiss of death peeking out. So many of these cars, even with an otherwise good body, rusted out where the trailing arm attaches to the floor pan. Once you get a pinhole, the insulation under the rear seat absorbs water and accelerates the rust. I’d be doing a good inspection to make sure that rust hasn’t set in in those areas. I’ve rebuilt 3 of these cars in that way.
1985 was hit and miss, they had the steering rack morning sickness, among other issues. The later cars seemed to be a lot better.
The Eurosport code is likely ZV8. At least that’s what it is on my 1990. Playing up that code would have probably caused confusion, some thinking it’s got a V8.
I’m in the process of adding actual Euro touches to my 90. Amber rear turn signals, rear fog lights, side repeaters, sidemarkers always flashing in sync…
The lack of an oil pressure gauge is silly. I’m in the process of adding one to my 90, remapping the idiot lights to the left side, creating a factory looking gauge from Celebrity and 6000 parts, and fitting it into the rightmost square. I did this same thing to my 89 Celebrity in 2003, still my summer daily driver.
Thanks for your comment, Troy. It’s always good to hear from someone with practical experience with a certain car; I think I can safely say that few of us would have known about the trailing arm-to-floorpan rust point.
No, no, 1,000 times no. A chance to relive driving around in the Chevrolet equivalent of my late mother’s horrid A Body Buick Century? Hard Pass. True, it has a V6 rather than the horrid I4 Iron Puke, but sorry, I’m not reliving that experience even if it was 40+ years in the past.
A Ford Taurus from 1986 on in good shape? Sure.
As another poster said, they might have been better than the X Cars, but that’s damning them with faint praise.
The main attraction to these was some suspension pieces that made it handle better than a stock Celebrity. A low bar, but that was pretty much the deal. As to what Car and Driver might or might not have said, read what they did say:
https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/a42673461/1984-chevrolet-celebrity-eurosport-by-the-numbers/